loved most of the material before it, but... theory of everything was something I can only call utter sh*t. horrendous lyrics and concept (!), and the formula had already gotten very old. arjen always was a one-trick pony, but with the latest teaser song for the next album I can say I'm plain not interested anymore. no matter how many vocalists he shoves into one song, the structure (I don't have terms for it) of how the vocals are placed into the music is always the exact same and that has become so infinitely boring it's insane. and he has like 3 side projects, and it's the same case with all of them!

Was a completist fan for years, having initially "discovered" Arjen's work through his admiration for Peter Daltrey of UK Psych band Kaleidoscope ... as well as inviting Daltrey to narrate Into The Electric Castle, he guested on one of Daltrey's solo albums, playing lead guitar on one track. Arjen also recorded a version of Kaleidoscope's "(Further Reflections) In the Room of Percussion" on his second solo album, Strange Hobby.

To begin with I found the Ayreon project (i.e. the story-arc of Ayreon and Forever of the Stars) to be a clever way of linking seemingly disparate songs into a unified concept, but when 01011001 was released I think he spoilt that by trying to retell the entire story in one go. It will be interesting to see whether The Source can recover that as it is purported to be a prequel to all the albums in the set (apart from the Theory of Everything which isn't canonical and would have fared better as Guilt Machine album perhaps).

To my mind, The Human Equation is by far the most balanced and complete of all the Ayreon albums - that it works equally as well as a stand alone concept as it does as part of the story arc (since it is revealed at the end to be a Dream Sequencer construct) helps a lot here, but it's the selection of singers that makes it really shine, especially Devin Townsend whose contribution is pure genius in my estimation.

ps: some will have spotted that Steven Wilson is thanked on the liner-notes of Into the Electric Castle and some may also know that this was because after releasing Actual Fantasy Luccassen asked Wilson to guest on his next album but he declined saying that Prog Rock was too old fashioned for him (that was 1997 after all). In his reply Wilson added a review/critique of Actual Fantasy that Luccassen subsequently posted on his website. Sadly that is no longer available for all to read but as I recall it was moderately patronising in Wilson's own quiet way.

Edited by Dean - March 16 2017 at 07:19

"You know what uranium is, right?Itís this thing called nuclear weapons. And other things. Like lots of things are done with uranium. Including some bad things.But nobody talks about that."

AYREON = Pompous OTT Prog-Opera work. I own the vinyl package of The Theory Of Everything, and whilst I can enjoy it from time to time (mainly for the guests involved) I shan't be purchasing any other album from this project.

^ - I own Love Beach. It's O.K. Not a total 'dog'. And I have all the other ELP albums as well.So are you saying Theory isn't a good example of Ayreon ? I really appreciate the concept, I'm just reluctant to delve any further into the other albums.

Definitely a big Ayreon fan, I found it after Labrie was on The Human Equation, which ends up being one of my least favorite albums. I think the peak was with the Universal Migrator. 0101 was good, he will always get the best out of his vocalists which I can enjoy. I'm really excited for the new album, the first song is promising so we'll see how I feel about after it's been out for a month or two, if I never go back to listen then it's not great.

I will say, any of his work that includes Russell Allen is something I will want to hear again.

^ - I own Love Beach. It's O.K. Not a total 'dog'. And I have all the other ELP albums as well.So are you saying Theory isn't a good example of Ayreon ? I really appreciate the concept, I'm just reluctant to delve any further into the other albums.

Theory isn't bad, however I don't listen to it anymore. Human Equation is the best Aryeon followed by Electric Castle. I still listen to those two fine albums.

Just tried to post a really long reply on here but it failed for some reason and I really can't be bothered to write it all again! Perhaps I will one day!! But suffice to say I am VERY excited about the release of The Source on April 28th (along with Grimspound by BBT!).

I used to listen to Ayreon a lot and enjoyed it,up until 10010100100100100100010, but then, all of a sudden, I couldn't bring myself to listen to them any more.I didn't really know why until I realised that the formulaic approach he uses on all of his albums got to me on a subconcious level. Since that happened I stopped listening to his albums, I just find them too boring now.

I really enjoy Ayreon. Arjen has some of the best melodies in that style of heavier prog that I find very enjoyable. The lyrics at times are a bit cheesy, but on repeated listens become less so... Connect the Dots comes to mind.

I really enjoy 01011001 and Universal Migrator. I thought that Into the Electric Castle and The Human Equation were better lyrically in that they told his story better, but musically I think they are a tad weaker. Actual Fantasy, while not being connected to the other albums, is also very enjoyable, and would be a great place to start for someone new to Ayreon.

I used to listen to Ayreon a lot and enjoyed it,up until 10010100100100100100010, but then, all of a sudden, I couldn't bring myself to listen to them any more.I didn't really know why until I realised that the formulaic approach he uses on all of his albums got to me on a subconcious level. Since that happened I stopped listening to his albums, I just find them too boring now.

I really hope that this doesn't happen to me! If he is formulaic then I obviously I like a winning formula, and he has clearly hit one! He does like his Theories and Equations after all...

The man is a God and a genius. The Human Equation, my first album of his, blew me away on first listen like no other. This was back in November 2011, a month in which I finally saw Marillion for the first time, and went to see Les Miserables in London for the first time. 3 magical musical experiences made for one incredible month!!

I've been listening to The Theory Of Everything again and I have to say that it's right up there with his very best for me. He always gets so much out of his vocalists, for example James LaBrie has never sounded better than on THE

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